Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Player Profile: Wade Boggs

I have 203 cards of Wade Boggs. This one is from 1997 Circa.

Playing career: Wade Boggs was one of the greatest hitters
of the 1980s, winning five batting titles between 1983 and 1988. Overall, in
eighteen seasons with the Red Sox, Yankees and Devil Rays, he hit .328 with
3,010 total hits, 118 HR, 1,513 runs scored and 1,014 RBI. He was an All-Star
twelve seasons in a row.

My memories: By
the time he came to the Yankees he was no longer the hitting machine that he
once was, but he was still a very productive member of the lineup. He was also
underrated as a defensive third baseman. Boggs is best-remembered by Yankees
fans for his tenth-inning, bases-loaded walk to complete the comeback from 6-0
down in Game 4, and for riding a police horse around Yankees Stadium after Game
6. However, he actually hit so badly in the postseason that he was benched in
favor of Charlie Hayes, which was why it was Hayes and not Boggs who got to
catch the final out in Game 6.

Where he is now:
He has been coaching baseball at Wharton High School in Tampa for over a
decade.

Interesting
stories: Boggs was always a magnet for attention and controversy. The Margo
Adams affair (Boggs getting sued by a former mistress) was one of the first
baseball player scandals that I was aware of as a young fan. There were his
numerous superstitions, most famously eating chicken before every game, but
also running sprints at 7:17 every day and drawing the Hebrew word “Chai” in
the batters box every at-bat.

Google
Autocomplete results: He is second when you type Wad, between Wade Barrett, a wrestler,
and Wade, referring to basketball player Dwyane Wade. There do not appear to be
any other prominent Wade Boggses.